Blog: the bathysphere

[photos by Meghan Sundermeier]

[photos by Meghan Sundermeier]

Doves Kingdom of Rust EMI, 2009 F irst an aside: heck of a year for album covers, ain't it? Between this, the new Gentleman Reg, Hazards of Love and Dark Was the Night , 2009 has had digital typesetters dingin' their wings all over the joint. In any event, a new Doves album is out. Like the others, it absolutely aces atmosphere, deftly balances a foreboding sense of melancholy with euphoric payoffs - [...]

A nyone who lives within 120 miles of Springfield, Illinois (this means you, St. Louis!) should be ashamed for not venturing there to pay homage to the co-founder of K records, father of all things wonderfully lo-fi and twee and all around good guy Calvin Johnson. He made stick figure cats punk rock for crying out loud! Which is why it was so disheartening to see about 25 people at The Black Sheep (about 10 of whom were with the local opener, Seething Coast, and 3 of whom worked the venue). Perhaps we could blame the [...]

A nyone who lives within 120 miles of Springfield, Illinois (this means you, St. Louis!) should be ashamed for not venturing there to pay homage to the co-founder of K records, father of all things wonderfully lo-fi and twee and all around good guy Calvin Johnson. He made stick figure cats punk rock for crying out loud! Which is why it was so disheartening to see about 25 people at The Black Sheep (about 10 of whom were with the local opener, Seething Coast, and 3 of whom worked the venue). Perhaps we could blame the [...]

B attle of the covers: Iowa City opener The Tanks do Misfits ("Where Eagles Dare"), Burger Kingdom doubles up on Eno (help?) and another round of Cranberries - a climactic "Dreams" with a cappella refrain - after Saturday's brief masquerade . BK's set was interrupted twice - first when guitarist Erik felt compelled to thank the crowd for coughing up donations and supporting "really cool stuff in this town," and second when he lost his glasses during a particularly frenetic "Belly of Stars." They wrapped with fan-fave "Ivory Pillows" and the aforementioned song [...]

B attle of the covers: Iowa City opener The Tanks do Misfits ("Where Eagles Dare"), Burger Kingdom doubles up on Eno (help?) and another round of Cranberries - a climactic "Dreams" with a cappella refrain - after Saturday's brief masquerade . BK's set was interrupted twice - first when guitarist Erik felt compelled to thank the crowd for coughing up donations and supporting "really cool stuff in this town," and second when he lost his glasses during a particularly frenetic "Belly of Stars." They wrapped with fan-fave "Ivory Pillows" and the aforementioned song [...]

T hanks to the bands, the fans, Slackers, Eastside, the photographess, the Easter Bunny, Bruce Springsteen, Jesus. We won't be around to do this next year. Your move, Columbia. Nonreturner Bright Young Things [...]

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle Drag City, 2009 A fter the relative misstep of 2006's Woke on a Whaleheart , Bill Callahan has certainly found his footing. "Lush" is the word you should be seeing in every review. Nearly every song throws at least one good curveball though, whether it's a sniper-eyed swear or a heart-stopping turn of phrase. But Smog fans might remember that Bill used to throw entire songs [...]

Well, it happened. Nonreturner Bright Young Things [...]

I t's finally here. In only a few hours, we - The Bathysphere, nine local bands, and you - will make history at Slackers and Eastside Tavern with the first ever (and probably only) Bathtime Festival. We've distributed approximately 1000 fliers and posters, publicly debased ourselves in front of thousands of our classmates and neighbors, been mildly (mildly) harassed by police and religious fanatics, and endured the scorn and rejection of several local press outlets (here's looking at you, MANEATER, MOVE, VOX, and KCOU ). But here we are with our very own music festival, featuring a lineup of [...]

I t's almost here. In less than 24 hours, we - The Bathysphere, nine local bands, and you - will make history at Slackers and Eastside Tavern with the first ever (and probably only) Bathtime Festival. We've distributed approximately 1000 fliers and posters, publicly debased ourselves in front of thousands of our classmates and neighbors, been mildly (mildly) harassed by police and religious fanatics, and endured the scorn and rejection of several local press outlets (here's looking at you, MANEATER, MOVE, VOX, and KCOU ). But here we are with our very own music festival, featuring a lineup of [...]

T he Bathysphere is coming to your campus! If you go to the University of Missouri! And this of course excludes the many hours that we spend on "your" campus every day anyway! Just work with me here! On Friday (tomorrow), assuming we get up earlier than your average fundamentalist sociopath, we'll be setting up an unwieldy tent (not pictured) right in the middle of Speakers Circle and handing out fliers for Saturday's Bathtime Festival . You know, that massive show we're putting on with nine bands and two venues and zero dollars [...]

Y ou asked for it ( some of you even Twittered for it), so here it is at last: The Bathtime Festival Official Schedule of Bathtime Festivities. The Fest will commence at 2:00pm with Nonreturner on the Slackers stage and continue unabated exactly 45 minutes later on the Eastside stage with Bright Young Things . Six bands later, we'll wrap things up on the Slackers stage with local favorites and unofficial "best Columbia band" Coward at [...]

T he Bathysphere is coming to your campus! If you go to the University of Missouri! And this of course excludes the many hours that we spend on "your" campus every day anyway! Just work with me here! On Friday (tomorrow), assuming we get up earlier than your average fundamentalist sociopath, we'll be setting up an unwieldy tent (not pictured) right in the middle of Speakers Circle and handing out fliers for Saturday's Bathtime Festival . You know, that massive show we're putting on with nine bands and two venues and zero dollars [...]

Y ou asked for it ( some of you even Twittered for it), so here it is at last: The Bathtime Festival Official Schedule of Bathtime Festivities. The Fest will commence at 2:00pm with Nonreturner on the Slackers stage and continue unabated exactly 45 minutes later on the Eastside stage with Bright Young Things . Six bands later, we'll wrap things up on the Slackers stage with local favorites and unofficial "best Columbia band" Coward at [...]

C olumbia band and featured Bathtime contributors Cpt. Captain have vaulted into Web 2.0 history with the second installment in their ongoing "song blog" campaign with "Cpt. Captain @ Slackers on 11th the Song." As you might imagine, the song represents a musical announcement of the band's intention to play our much - hyped Bathtime Festival . Clocking in at a respectable 1:34, the tune covers all the relevant info - a show, Slackers, April, the 11th, free - [...]

I n conjunction with the release of BATHTIME , our essential compilation of Missouri's most exciting young bands, we asked each of the featured bands to fill out a short profile to introduce themselves to the esteemed Bathysphere reader and BATHTIME listener. Today it's Kansas City's Spidermums, who were recently featured in Pitchfork's Forkcast but would probably rather you check out High Diving Ponies , their latest incarnation: Hometown: Kansas City Formed: January 2008 Broke-up: August 2008 Members: [...]

I n conjunction with the release of BATHTIME , our essential compilation of Missouri's most exciting young bands, we asked each of the featured bands to fill out a short profile to introduce themselves to the esteemed Bathysphere reader and BATHTIME listener. Today it's Kansas City's Spidermums, who were recently featured in Pitchfork's Forkcast but would probably rather you check out High Diving Ponies , their latest incarnation: Hometown: Kansas City Formed: January 2008 Broke-up: August 2008 Members: [...]

Tops Jerusalem and the Starbaskets [...]